In the years since the September 11th terrorist attack and the start of the “war on terror,” the United States has become a country that openly admits to using “harsh” or “enhanced interrogation” methods on prisoners. Those who support these interrogation methods argue that they were necessary to gather information on terrorist groups (despite the complete lack of evidence supporting such a claim), while those who condemn the use of such interrogation methods have pointed out that they are illegal and set a bad precedent that could entice foreign groups to use “enhanced interrogation” on our troops.

Unfortunately, it appears that this bad precedent has finally emerged as a tangible threat to the American public; the Islamic State terrorist group (also known as ISIS and ISIL) which is currently rampaging across Iraq has begun using CIA-style “enhanced interrogation” on kidnapped westerners.

Defining Enhance Interrogation

“Enhanced interrogation” methods confirmed to have been used by the government include solitary confinement, waterboarding, superficial beatings (ex. slapping prisoners), exposure to extreme temperatures, prolonged stress positions, and blasting extremely loud music.

Not to mince words, these “enhanced interrogation” methods are torture—the term “enhanced interrogation” is simply a euphemism created by the Bush Administration to repackage the torture methods copied from a soviet-Chinese interrogation manual. In the past, we have condemned other nations for using solitary confinement and beatings on our prisoners of war, and have even executed several Japanese officers for the war crime of waterboarding American soldiers during WWII.

Repackaging torture under a different name may make it more palatable for an ill-informed American public, but it does nothing to preserve the US’s moral high ground. If we torture and commit war crimes, we lose the ability to credibly complain when other nations commit similar violations.

ISIS Using CIA Interrogation Methods

According to several European hostages who were ransomed from the Islamic State terrorists, their captors tortured them with beatings and waterboarding. In addition to their personal accounts, these hostages have described watching other prisoners get tortured via waterboarding, including American journalist James Foley, who was recently beheaded by the terrorist group. These accounts of waterboarding being used on Americans are the first such accounts in the years since the United States has begun using the torture method.

Ultimately, ISIS has demonstrated that it is an unspeakably vicious terrorist group that would almost certainly have water boarded its hostages, even if the US had not become infamous for the practice. They have buried women and children alive, burned captured adversaries at the stake, and even publically crucified allies who were seen as too moderate—to them, waterboarding is tame and there is no reason to believe that the US’s conduct had any effect on their decisions.

That said, the fact that we have publically claimed that waterboarding is not torture invalidates our ability to complain when ISIS decides to use it on our citizens. Any American to be captured by ISIS can expect to be waterboarded, only for ISIS to declare their torture to be “enhanced interrogation” no different from what the United States has subjected dozens of innocent Muslims to.

Put simply, if waterboarding is torture when ISIS does it to Americans, then it is torture when we do it to suspected terrorists—accordingly, if waterboarding, is just legal “enhanced interrogation” when we do it, ISIS has every right to avail itself of the tactic when extracting information from Americans.

The waterboarding of Americans by ISIS and the inability of our government to credibly respond with outrage is confirmation of the anti-torture argument that our use of torture entices others to torture our citizens. When Bush decided to start torturing (or, more likely, Cheney decided to use torture and Bush was simply dragged along for the ride) and Obama decided to let his predecessor’s acts go unpunished, they caused immense damage to our nation’s credibility to speak out against abuses on our citizens. We have dirtied our reputation and, unless we are willing to call out to torturers in our own ranks, we will have no right to demand that those who torture our countrymen be punished.

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In peace, women are feminists. In wars, they are cowards, trading sexual signals for sympathy and protection.

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Terrorist Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Reality to Come?

Weapons of mass destruction (WMDs or CBRN) are undeniably a terrifying thing. Some of them have the capability of indiscriminately killing dozens, some hundreds and some even millions. Although CBRN terrorism has been widely considered only a low probability risk,[2] the possible high consequences of a successful attack has still kept many policy-makers awake at night. Preventing CBRN terrorism has been a constant aim of numerous official security doctrines across the world.

There have been so far only a handful of terrorist incidents involving chemical, biological or radiological weapons, and none concerning nuclear weapons. To name a few, the Rajneeshee cult poisoned salad bars with salmonella in a small town in Oregon in 1984,[4] Chechen terrorists placed, but did not detonate a dirty bomb at a park in Moscow in 1996,[5] and Aum Shinrikyo repeatedly used botulinum toxin, sarin and VX in the early 1990s.[6] Fortunately, no terrorists were ever successful in using these weapons in an effective way.

However, this historic experience does not mean CBRN attacks cannot become a more common and deadly phenomenon. This essay will analyse whether the security threat of CBRN terrorism has increased over the years and how much. This essay will particularly assess the motivation of the fourth wave of terrorism and the overall accessibility of CBRN weapons. In essence, this essay argues that the overall threat has increased indeed, but it still belongs in the ‘low risk-high consequence’ category.

Motivation: Organizations Willing to Use CBRN Weapons

Building on David Rapoport’s scheme, a close analysis of the four waves of terrorism shows that only the last one has a true motivation to use CBRN weapons. The first wave, represented by anarchist movements, never attempted to use CBRN weapons. During the second wave, the ethno-separatist, only the Tamil Tigers used chemical weapons, but only in battlefield use against armed forces. Neither did the third, left-wing wave used CBRN weapons, even though there have been some allegations. However, the current fourth wave is diametrically different from the previous three.

One of the usual suspects is Al Qaeda. The group, its affiliates and the global Salafi jihadist movement in general perceive the world only in shades of black or white. That enables Al Qaeda terrorists and perhaps even motivates them to kill their adversaries en masse and indiscriminately, not excluding civilians. Furthermore, Al Qaeda has openly claimed the divine right to kill four million Americans. It seems difficult to imagine Al Qaeda or one of its affiliates would not use CBRN weapons if had the opportunity.

Al Qaeda actually tried to buy a nuclear warhead on the black market in the late 1990s. Ahmed Ressam, an Al Qaeda member and known as ‘the millennium bomber’, claims that the organization has been training its operatives in Afghanistan how to use chemical weapons. Furthermore, its Iraqi branch, the predecessor of the Islamic State (ISIS), remains the main suspect of more than a dozen of car bombings enhanced with chlorine gas in 2007.

The Islamic State has repeatedly shown that it is willing to use all means necessary to achieve its aim. In 2006, it started a sectarian war against the Shia by bombing the al-Askari Mosque in Samarra. Now, it seeks to defend and expand its current territory in lands formerly known as Syria, Iraq and Libya, even by using chemical weapons, as Baghdad claims.

One should not underestimate terrorist organizations coming from other religions. After all, the most active user of CBRN weapons was Aum Shinrikyo. Similar religious sects, attempting to cause the Apocalypse with CBRN weapons, could theoretically originate anywhere.

Another possible CBRN terrorist category could be the radical right-wing. Similarly to religious extremists, the far-right perceives the world in black and white, it does not avoid using violence against members of other communities it deems inferior, and it is prepared to take justice into its own hands if the government fails to act accordingly. The extreme right-wing is non-violent now, but it has the potential to become a serious security threat if it came to the conclusion that it cannot force political changes by peaceful means.

In Europe, the right-wing with the greatest potential for the future can be seen in the current anti-Islam movement, represented for instance by the English Defence League and German Pegida. In the United States, CBRN terrorism seems the most probable coming from the local militias, which consist in total of approximately five million paramilitary-trained members. In 1985, U.S. authorities seized illegal guns and ammunition, automatic rifles, hand grenades, a light anti-tank weapon, and 43 gallons of potassium cyanide at a headquarters of an Arkansan militia, to name just a single example to demonstrate the security hazard.

Capability: Accessibility of CBRN Weapons

Accessibility of chemical weapons can be assessed as fairly easy. Chemical components to dangerous agents can usually be easily found on the open market. Experts deem the nerve agent tabun to be the easiest to make and a skilled chemist could prepare sarin in his own kitchen as its components can be found for instance in gasoline additives, paint solvents and antiseptics. As for the laboratory equipment, it gets cheaper and more accessible every year, like it is with all modern technology. Aum Shinrikyo worked for years with dual-use equipment without raising suspicion.

The more difficult task, when it comes to chemical weapons, is the dispersion. If aerosol is prepared poorly, it will not cause many casualties. Thus terrorists might prefer to steal already weaponized and tested chemical weapons. Because of the Arab Spring, this task might be easier than ever before. The revolutionary wave destabilized particularly Libya, Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Unfortunately, these countries also had active chemical programmes in the past. Troublesome could be especially Iraq because Saddam-era chemical weapons were found in recent years and no one can tell if there are more to be found.

The same problem is regarding biological weapons as Libya, Egypt and Iraq had invested into researching biological warfare as well. As for acquiring non-weaponized agents, some are extremely easy to make, particularly toxins like botulinum and ricin. Terrorists may be also very interested into anthrax, which was demonstrated by Aum Shinrikyo or Bruce Edwards Ivins. As it was with chemical weapons, dual-use laboratory equipment would suit terrorists the best and the greatest challenge lies within the delivery mechanism.

Radiological weapons are arguably the easiest to obtain and weaponize. Nine isotopes are considered a high security risk should they lose physical protection or become abandoned. Three of them (caesium-137, cobalt-60 and iridium-192) are strong gamma emitters which can be easily found in standard hospital or mining equipment.

A terrorist can either simply attach the source to a conventional explosive, which is generally known as the dirty bomb. While panic and some economic damage would be guaranteed, experts doubt this kind of attack would cause many casualties.[33] Another option would be to disperse the radiological source in the form of aerosol, which would be more lethal, but it again requires a sophisticated dispersal device. Furthermore, the perspective of people dying weeks, months or even years after the initial attack due to cancer does not seem too dramatic, which is something terrorists usually crave for.

While nuclear weapons might be the most desired CBRN weapon, they are by all means the most difficult to obtain. Because the implosion device is a tremendously complex mechanism, terrorists are indefinitely more likely to use the much simpler gun-type design, if they ever acquired at least 55 kilograms of high enriched uranium (HEU). The IAEA registered only sixteen incidents involving HEU or plutonium with the total weight being not even close to the needed mass. Extreme security measures have so far served as a sufficient deterrent against nuclear terrorism.

Conclusion

The overall threat of terrorists using weapons of mass destruction has clearly increased over the years. The fourth wave of terrorism, represented by Salafi jihadists, apocalyptic religious cults and the extreme right-wing, has little respect for life of everyone who does not share their beliefs. This black and white perspective of the world helps them justify killing of civilians in large numbers.

Chemical and biological weapons are the most likely CBRN weapons to be used. First, some chemical and biological agents or their components are accessible on the free market. Second, laboratory equipment gets cheaper every year. And finally, the Arab Spring severely destabilized several countries which had chemical and biological weapons. On the other hand, radiological and nuclear weapons do not seem likely to be used by terrorists in the near future. The former for its ineffectiveness and the latter for its complexity and inaccessibility of fissile material.

However, it would still seem farfetched to claim that CBRN terrorism would become an increasingly common phenomenon in the future. Although the overall threat of chemical and biological terrorism is definitely much higher than a decade or two ago, it is still quite difficult to access the required agents in sufficient numbers, weaponize them and acquire an effective dispersal device, especially without gaining attention of the authorities and intelligence services.

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Why is sex so important? Because life is so full of shit, that without sex, it's just not worth living.

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You probably have to look at imagery of death and dying regularly to stay focused on what really counts in life: great sex before you are gone anyway.

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My vagina is too ‘loose’ says my boyfriend. What should I do?

I am glad that you did seek professional advice rather keeping it to yourself.

‘He told me that my vagina is big and loose’ – this is a heavy judgment laden sentence told to you by your new boyfriend. How does he know that yours is big and loose? It is well possible that his penis is smaller in girth and so he is not able to feel. It is also possible that you are well lubricated that he could not feel much of a grip (this is especially true if your boyfriend has always masturbated using his hands). Rather than jumping to a conclusion that your vagina is big and loose, you need to be confident about yourself that you previously had a mutually pleasurable sex. To some extent, vagina gets a bit loose after 2 years of sex. What is needed for you now is pelvic floor tightening exercise (Kegel’s exercise) and some medication/relaxation for your mind. There are many vaginal tightening creams/gels sold on the net but I have no recommendation for any. If you think it works and makes you feel confident, go for it (www.shycart.com). Open communication with your boyfriend is important. If he is not able to understand your position and sabotages the sexual experience due to the size, then there are few fundamental issues that you need to clarify/review with your boyfriend. Sex is part of life and in that intercourse is only a fraction of sex. Please do not let a very small aspect of your sex take control of your whole life.

Has the Normalizing of Pedophilia Begun?

Do people who rape children, or fantasize about sexually abusing them, deserve sympathy – because they were born with the brains of pedophiles?

That’s the question a prominent scientist and a well-known anchor at CNN have asked in the wake of the recent Jerry Sandusky scandal.

CNN recently featured a story by James Cantor, a homosexual psychologist and scientist at the Sexual Behaviors Clinic of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health who serves as associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

“It appears that one can be born with a brain predisposed to experience sexual arousal in response to children,” he wrote in his CNN piece.

He continued, “Cases of child molestation that involve long strings of victims over the course of years illustrate what can happen when someone gives in to, or outright indulges, his sexual interests, regardless of its potential damage on others. It is those cases that dominate headlines and provoke revulsion toward pedophiles.

“But they are rare. An untold number of cases merit sympathy.

“The science suggests that they are people who, through no fault of their own, were born with a sex drive that they must continuously resist, without exception, throughout their entire lives. Little if any assistance is ever available for them.”

According to the American Psychological Association, Cantor is passionate about the neurological underpinnings of sexual behavior and jokes, “I feel lucky to have found a way to stimulate my brain intellectually by indulging myself in thinking about sex all the time.”

He has studied the brains of male pedophiles using magnetic resonance imaging. Cantor explained his findings:

“Pedophilic men have significantly less white matter, which is the connective tissue that is responsible for communication between different regions in the brain. Pedophiles perform more poorly on various tests of brain function, tend to be shorter in height and are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous (characteristics that are observable before birth). Although nonbiological features may yet turn up to be relevant, it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain the research findings without there being a strong role of biology.”

He explains, from his experience with such individuals, that pedophiles act on their sexual urges and molest children “when they feel the most desperate.”

“Yet, much of what society does has been to increase rather than decrease their desperation,” he wrote.

In the U.S., Cantor notes, the focus tends to be on punishments invoked after sex abuse has taken place – rather than implementing social policies aimed at prevention.

“If it is the brain’s wiring that ultimately determines who will go on to develop pedophilia, can we detect it early enough to interrupt the process?” he asks. “Until we uncover more information, we will do more good by making it easier for pedophiles to come in for help rather than force them into solitary secrecy.”

Meanwhile, a CNN anchor chimed in to express sympathy for Sandusky, who was found guilty on 45 of 48 child sex-abuse charges after he molested at least 10 boys over a period of 15 years.

CNN’s Don Lemon, an open homosexual who has revealed he was molested as a child, interviewed Cantor about his findings. In that segment, he said:

“I know people are going to send me a lot of hate mail for this. I’ve never been one to take glee in anyone’s demise, and when I saw Jerry Sandusky walk out in handcuffs, I did kind of feel a bit sorry for him, even though I know the jury found him to do some horrific things, I was like ‘His life is over.’ All of these young boys, it was terrible for them as well. There are no winners.”

Meanwhile, some experts warn of a highly controversial campaign in recent years that seeks to sympathize with – and even normalize – pedophilia.

Just last year, Dr. Judith Reisman, the principal expert investigator for a U.S. Justice Department study on child sex abuse, said pedophilia advocates are using the same strategy that was successfully employed to make homosexuality a classroom subject for small children in the nation’s public schools.

As WND reported, Reisman attended a symposium held by the “minor-attracted people” advocacy group B4U-ACT to disseminate “accurate information” on the position that pedophilia is just one more alternative sexual orientation.

“If a foreign country came in and did this to our nation, the nation would be outraged,” Reisman said about the B4U-Act event, also attended by J. Matt Barber, vice president of Liberty Counsel Action.

The speakers urged the removal of pedophilia from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental defects in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Reisman explained the same strategy was used by homosexual activists in the 1970s when same-sex attractions were removed from the APA’s list of disorders. Eventually, the legalization of “gay marriage,” the mandatory homosexuality lessons in public schools and the policy of allowing open homosexuality in the U.S. military resulted.

“Dr. John Sadler (University of Texas) argued that diagnostic criteria for mental disorders should not be based on concepts of vice since such concepts are subject to shifting social attitudes and doing so diverts mental-health professions from their role as healers,” the B4U-ACT organization said in a report about its symposium in Baltimore.

Another celebrity was Fred Berlin of Johns Hopkins who argued in favor of “acceptance of and compassion for people who are attracted to minors,” the report continued.

The report pointedly referred to “minor-attracted people” in reference to pedophiles and explained that the concerns can be resolved with “accurate information.” Richard Kramer, who represented B4U-ACT at the event, contended listing pedophilia as a disorder stigmatizes the “victims” of the lifestyle choice.

According to Barber, conference speakers said the Diagnostic Manual should “focus on the needs” of the pedophile and should have “a minimal focus on social control” rather than a focus on the “need to protect children.”

Barber, an ardent advocate for Judeo-Christian values and the traditional family, told WND the symposium was “the North American Man-Boy Love Association all dolled up and dressed in the credible language of the elitist Ph.Ds.”

NAMBLA openly advocates the legalization of sex between adults and children.

“This is a bunch of morally relative, highly educated people in the mental health community who are trying to achieve the ultimate in tolerance,” Barber said. “These are the people who are the disciples of Alfred Kinsey.”

It was in the 1940s and 1950s that sex “researcher” Kinsey published his writings ridiculing marriage, fidelity and chastity and preaching widespread sexual experimentation. But according to Reisman’s research, in “Sexual Sabotage,” Kinsey’s “research” was compiled from information frequently obtained from jailed sex offenders and then portrayed as coming from middle-class America.

Barber said the symposium themes became clear quickly:

Pedophiles are unfairly “demonized” in society.

The concept of “wrong” should not be applied to “minor-attracted persons.”

“Children are not inherently unable to consent” to sex with an adult.

“An adult’s desire to have sex with children is ‘normative.'” And the Diagnostic Manual “ignores that pedophiles ‘have feelings of love and romance for children’ the same way adult heterosexuals have for each other.”

Barber noted that self-described “gay activist” and speaker Jacob Breslow said it is proper for children to be “the object of our attraction.” Breslow said pedophiles shouldn’t need to get consent from a child to have sex any more than they would get consent from a shoe to wear it, according to Barber.

Berlin previously reported that 67 percent of pedophiles and child molesters relapse after being treated for the disorder. But the few who didn’t were tracked for a period of only two years, and any recidivism after that was unreported. And Reisman noted that even his success “stories” are anonymous and “wholly unverified.”

In a related commentary on WND, Reisman said, “The APA path to pedophile norms follows the success of the homosexual anarchy campaign. Arguably, the pedophile media lobby directed the passionate boy-boy kisses on the TV series ‘Glee,’ to enable fellow ‘minor-attracted persons’ to increasingly be seen as a boy’s sex ‘friend.’

“B4U-ACT claims to ‘help mental health professionals learn more about attraction to minors and to consider the effects of stereotyping, stigma, and fear.’ While the group claimed they want to teach pedophiles ‘how to live life fully and stay within the law,’ no one suggested how to stop their child lust or molestation,” she wrote.

However, in 2010, when Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a senior Vatican official, linked homosexuality to child sexual abuse, Cantor rejected the claim that there is any link between homosexuality and pedophilia.

“It’s quite solidly shown in the scientific literature that there is absolutely no association between being a gay man and being a pedophile,” he told CNN.

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Khmer Rouge terror in Cambodia

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The Vamp in the Veil: Is she a Saudi princess - or a prostitute?

As the High Court is gripped by wild tales of cocaine, sex and the occult, what is the truth about Sara Al Amoudi?

She arrives at the High Court in London each morning in a black Rolls-Royce Phantom with a personalised number plate bearing the initials ‘HRH’.

As cameras flash, a team of Middle Eastern security guards descend from a Range Rover to help her cross five yards of pavement to the building’s revolving front door.

Some are entrusted with her handbag. Others look after her £50,000 diamond-encrusted luxury Vertu mobile phone.

A snappily dressed flunky named Mohammed pushes a wheelchair, in which she occasionally chooses to park her derriere.

This regal creature, who invariably has her face veiled, always wears a black burka, sometimes with gold silk stitching or a jewelled trim.

Underneath, you can catch a glimpse of designer shoes with five-inch killer heels. Occasionally, she stretches out an arm to reveal a gem-studded Rolex and a wristful of gold jewellery.

She has dark brown hair, greenish eyes and appears to wear a lot of make-up.

Oh, and for most of the past month, she has been at the centre of one of the most sordid and downright surreal court cases in living memory.

Yet as the high-stakes civil proceedings have progressed, the ‘Vamp in the Veil’ case has grown increasingly strange and sleazy.

On Wednesday, for example, Ms Al Amoudi attempted to prove that she is incredibly wealthy — and presumably therefore does not need to defraud anyone — by insisting, under oath, that she spent almost £1 million on perfume in just a few weeks.

‘I have a problem with shopping,’ she declared. ‘In the past two months, my perfume, only the perfume … $1.4 million (£912,000). I can show you the pictures.’

Earlier, key players in the case were accused of conducting illicit sexual affairs, concealing addictions to drink and drugs, and prostituting themselves, more of which later.

Then there is a dark back-story involving a dead former business associate — and alleged ex-lover — of Al Amoudi, who is accused of dabbling in the occult with her at the Cliveden estate in Berkshire, scene of the Profumo scandal, again more of which later.

At the centre of these dizzying claims and counter claims there sits a huge unanswered question: Who exactly is this woman?

For, as proceedings have progressed, it has become apparent that no one — least of all Judge Sarah Asplin, who must decide the eventual outcome of the extraordinary trial — is entirely sure.

For example, several acquaintances have told the court that for years Al Amoudi has described herself as a Saudi royal.

One, an elderly hereditary peer called Lord Mereworth, who met her several years ago, said she had talked to him of being the estranged wife of King Abdullah, the country’s monarch.

‘I understood she was married to the king of Saudi,’ he said.

Yet in her own evidence to court this week, Al Amoudi — who has produced no credible birth, marriage or other document confirming her identity — denied having made such a claim.

A former boyfriend once told reporters that she spoke of being Osama Bin Laden’s daughter, claimed to be a friend of Kate Moss, and talked of dating two Hollywood film stars — Irish former hellraiser Colin Farrell and Gladiator star Joaquin Phoenix — as well as former Arsenal footballer Freddie Ljunberg.

However, there is no evidence of her having any link to the Bin Laden family, and none of the supposed celebrity acquaintances will admit to having anything to do with her.

A few years ago, in a successful application for a £4 million mortgage from a bank, that was shared with the court, Ms Al Amoudi allowed the bank to assume wrongly that she was the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, one of the world’s wealthiest men.

Yet the Ethopian-Saudi billionaire’s legal representatives, who were in court all week, have issued a formal denial of paternity.

At various other points, she has told acquaintances that her father is Mohammed bin Aboud Al-Amoudi, the super-wealthy owner of the Intercontinental Hotel in Jeddah.

But the businessman’s representatives have vigorously disputed that claim, too.

Then there is the question of the source of Ms Al Amoudi’s apparent wealth. In legal papers, she has claimed to be a Saudi-born heiress, married at 13 and exiled from the country in the Nineties because of an adulterous relationship.

After arriving in London almost two decades ago, she says she has existed thanks to a £100,000 weekly allowance, sent by her family in the form of suitcases filled with banknotes.

Yet one of the two plaintiffs in the fraud case, 56-year-old property developer Amanda Clutterbuck, a well-preserved blonde, alleged this week that Al Amoudi earns her crust as a high-class prostitute, who for years worked from a £750,000 flat, with two sisters, yards from Harrods.

‘Far from being Saudi Arabian princesses, they were all prostitutes,’ she said, claiming that the women would trawl Harrods in search of clients.

Asked about that allegation in court, Al Amoudi claimed ‘in the name of Allah’ to be ‘a good Muslim woman’.

Certainly, there are questions about how rich Ms Al Amoudi actually is. In court on Tuesday, she claimed that her wealth was genuine, citing her expenditure on perfume as evidence.

‘I’m afraid I’m addicted to spending money and get through enormous amounts of cash,’ she said. ‘I can easily spend £50,000 to £100,000 in one spree.’

Yet the very next day, despite her luxury cars and huge entourage of employees, she suddenly declared herself ‘broke’, telling the judge: ‘I don’t have anything!’

It was a typically odd moment in a surreal three days during which Al Amoudi gave evidence to the court.

She had agreed to remove her veil in court, but sat behind a wall of document files, so that her face was invisible to most of the onlookers.

During hours of rambling testimony, at times she talked so softly that she could barely be heard; at other times she raised her voice and broke into hysterics or tears.

Often (but not always) she adopted a heavy Middle Eastern accent.

On several occasions, Al Amoudi insisted she could barely understand proceedings and needed to speak through an interpreter — only to break into eloquent English moments later.

At one such point, the court dissolved into laughter when the opposition counsel thanked her for suddenly being ‘fluent in English again’.

Things were similarly odd during Ms Al Amoudi’s last brush with the law, a 2010 trial at Southwark Crown Court when a former boyfriend, Swedish male model Patrick Ribbsaeter, stood accused of assaulting her driver.

Back then, she appeared in a bejewelled burka to give evidence for the prosecution, who claimed Ribbsaeter was a ‘gold digger’ after her money. Following his acquittal, he claimed Al Amoudi’s devout appearance during the trial was a facade.

During their short, volatile relationship, he claimed, ‘she didn’t wear the burka as a rule — she wore designer clothes,’ many of them revealing.

Al Amoudi also frequented upscale London bars, restaurants and nightclubs. ‘She was drinking champagne every night,’ he said.

‘She had a lot of issues … who knows what the truth is about this strange woman?’

One person who claims to know the truth is South London furniture dealer Negat Ali, who came forward after seeing Al Amoudi’s unveiled picture in the Daily Mail and told the court she knew her of old.

The ‘Vamp in the Veil’ is not a royal or even a Saudi, Ali claimed: she is an Ethiopian who later lived in Yemen and Dubai, she insisted.

Ms Ali, who is originally Ethiopian but now works in Battersea, claims to have met Al Amoudi in 1985.

She then ran into her again by chance in 1996 at the London strip club Stringfellow’s, where they were attending a ‘ladies’ night’.

The two women went on to share a flat in Bayswater, she said.

In 2000, Al Amoudi fell pregnant and gave birth to a daughter at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son, Prince George, was born this week.

That daughter, who is now aged 13, is at boarding school.

Ms Ali claims that she lived with Al Amoudi for several years — during which time the infant was used to seek maintenance payments from a variety of men — before they fell out over an alleged unpaid debt of £500.

Ms Ali suspects the ‘Vamp in the Veil’ is not actually a Muslim and uses her burka as a disguise during public appearances to prevent old acquaintances, and clients, from recognising her.

Al Amoudi’s barrister, for his part, accused Negat Ali of being a disgruntled former servant trying to settle an old score with claims that are entirely untrue.

The nuts and bolts of the court case revolve around a disputed property deal.

The plaintiffs, Ms Clutterbuck and her partner Ian Paton, allege that Ms Al Amoudi cultivated their friendship over several years.

She then carried out a ‘very accomplished’ face-to-face fraud, convincing them to sign over six properties to her as security for a major future cash advance.

They say she claimed to be hugely wealthy and willing to act as a partner helping to secure finance on a deal to buy properties worth £170 million on Hans Place in Knightsbridge.

Al Amoudi allegedly told them she could secure a loan of £46 million from contacts in the Middle East. In exchange, they signed over to her the titles to six London properties.

But the massive loan never materialised, and now the couple want the properties, which are worth £14 million, to be returned.

‘I thought I was living through an Alfred Hitchcock film, in which reality seemed to be totally distorted,’ said Ms Clutterbuck — who counts the Duke of Gloucester among her social circle — recalling the moment she came to believe she had been conned.

Al Amoudi, for her part, claims that Paton signed over the flats to her in order to repay debts he owed her from years as a crack cocaine addict.

She claimed Mr Paton had been her ‘lover’ for around a decade, taking millions of pounds from her over this time.

Mr Paton has denied ever sleeping with Ms Al Amoudi and says he has never taken crack cocaine.

As is common in civil proceedings, the case, which continues, will be decided by Judge Asplin, not a jury.

Crucial to the eventual verdict will be Sara Al Amoudi’s love life. In court, Ms Clutterbuck and Mr Paton’s barrister identified a string of men to whom she is believed to have been attached during the years she claims to have been conducting an affair with Mr Paton.

They include a man known only as ‘Sammy’, who is the father of her child, and one Gerald Jerko Zovko, who is believed to have been married to Al Amoudi until he was killed in Iraq in early 2004 while working as a private security contractor.

His vehicle was hit by rocket- propelled grenades in the town of Fallujah, and his mutilated body was then dragged through the streets by a mob.

Then there is Cliff Besley, an Australian triathlon champion who, the court was told, was introduced as her fiancé at business meetings in 2008, and an alleged boyfriend called Ryan Bish.

Another man, still in her life, is Lord Mereworth, an 83-year-old divorced, heirless and apparently very wealthy hereditary peer, who lives in Pimlico, South-West London.

He appears to have become entranced with Al Amoudi after meeting her a few years ago. They have dined together at the House of Lords, and he agreed to give evidence in her support.

During cross-examination, in which Lord Mereworth denied that she had ever proposed marriage to him, he claimed to be convinced of her legitimacy.

‘I may have been misled, who knows? But I still trust her,’ he said.

The final player in this extraordinary soap opera is an acquaintance of Amanda Clutterbuck, a man named Elliot Nichol, with whom Ms Al Amoudi appears to have had a lengthy affair.

Mr Nichol, who died of alcohol poisoning in December 2009, is said to have been obsessed with the occult. He would speak with Ms Al Amoudi on a mobile phone that had a number ending in 666 — which is popularly associated with the devil.

In the run-up to his death, Nichol was living with Al Amoudi at properties in central London and on the Cliveden estate in Berkshire, Ms Clutterbuck told the court.

‘At Christmas 2006, Mr Nichol phoned in an almost totally incoherent state, singing at the top of his voice: “I am drowning in Vuitton handbags and Cavalli, we’re thinking of floating them down the Thames.” ’

The ‘Vamp in the Veil’ denies being with Nichol at the time of that call.

As with almost everything about this mysterious woman, the truth is hard to ascertain. Now a judge will have the unenviable task of sorting fact from fiction in this most modern tale of greed and guile.

Cuba is bringing back state-run love hotels

They’re short-stay hotels designed for one thing, and one thing only — for couples to get intimate.

They’re super popular in Japan, where they originated, and they cater for all kinds of kink: you can find anything from pirate to prison themed rooms and even Hello Kitty and ramen themed ones.

The phenomenon has gone global, and love hotels have found particular resonance in Central and South America.

Now, the Cuban government reckons there’s so much value in love hotels it’s planning to open some of its own.

The BBC reports state officials hope to end the practice of lovemaking in Cuba’s open spaces, such as parks and beaches, by bringing back state-run love hotels — locally known as posadas — which disappeared during the economic crisis of the 1990s.

Under the plan, couples can rent a room, decked out with airconditioning, a fridge and a comfortable bed, for about $6.50 for three hours.

However, the BBC notes that price is about a sixth of the average monthly salary in Cuba — which is about $38.50 — so posadas will be way beyond the budget of most people.

Still, officials say they will provide a space for couples who struggle to find private spots to get intimate due to overcrowding and housing shortages in Havana.

Many families share apartments in Havana, an arrangement that makes it difficult for amorous couples to get alone time.

Officials say there will be a chain of at least five posadas in Havana that will hopefully encourage couples to move their X-rated activities indoors and away from notorious hook-up spots such as Havana’s Malecon waterfront.